Operation Street Smart: Educating Parents and Caregivers About Teen Drug Trends
For those living and working in Marion County, attendance to Operation Street Smart on February 10 at the Tri-Rivers Career Center auditorium is free of charge. From 9 a.m. until 3 a.m., the program will provide attendees with up-to-date information about the effects of different drugs and alcohol on our youth, which drugs are hot among local teens, the trends in terminology and paraphernalia and a whole lot more.
The hope is that teachers, parents and family members, school administrators, probation officers, youth ministers, school board members, and social service workers will take advantage of the free workshop to learn the signs of teen drug abuse so that they can intervene in a timely manner.
A Constantly Changing Landscape
Across the country, educational workshops like these are being held with the same goal in mind: to provide the latest information to parents and caregivers of teens so they will know what to look for in the young people they care about. It’s an ever-changing body of information and those who work directly with teens know that last week’s drug of choice may be tossed away in favor of a completely different style of drug this week. Methods of ingestion, words used to describe different drugs, and places to buy the drugs – there is an ongoing list of things that change with the trends, as quickly as teen clothing and hairstyle fads change.
Keeping Up With Your Teen
Parents may not always be able to enroll in the latest workshop or continually read up on changing trends in order to know what’s going on with their teens – and they may not need to. Simply paying attention to the details of your teen’s life and noticing changes can be all that you need to tip you off to serious issues on the horizon for your teen. For example, you might notice:
- Changes in friends
- Changes in clothes
- Less attention to hygiene
- Speaking in code
- Breaking rules more often at home
- Getting into trouble at school
- A drop in grades
- Change in interest; old hobbies fall away
Though some of these changes can be chalked up to good old-fashioned growing up, when the changes all point toward drug abuse, it can mean that a problem is brewing. Your best bet? Address the issue immediately and make it clear in no uncertain terms that drug abuse of any kind of will not be tolerated. If they ignore these boundaries and continue to abuse drugs, it may be time to contact us at Newport Academy and look into the different resources we provide to teens struggling with drugs and alcohol. Call now for answers to your teen drug abuse questions.